Remembering Biggie 17 years after his death

Today marks the 17th anniversary of the tragic death of the Notorious BIG also known as Biggie Smalls.

Biggie, who was born Christopher George Wallace on May 21, 1972, was shot to death in his car in Los Angeles on March 9, 1997 after leaving a Vibe magazine party, notes VIBE.

His autopsy, which was released to the public in late 2012, revealed the first three shots weren’t fatal but the fourth one proved to be the one that killed the rap icon, hitting several vital organs notes The Epoch Times. The gunman, who took the Brooklyn born rapper's life, still remains unknown until this day.

Many have taken to social media to celebrate the “Ready to Die” rapper. His partner in crime and mentor who helped him reach rap fame, Diddy took to Instagram to remember him.

Diddy put in the caption of the first photo, “Miss u brother RIP #BIG.” Diddy followed that Instagram post with another one, crowning Biggie the greatest rapper of all time.

In his short time in the music industry, Biggie not only redefined what it meant to be a lyricist and story teller in Hip-Hop, but some of his greatest lines are still used today by an array of artists.

Who can ever forget lines like, “I see the gimmicks, the wack lyrics/That s**t is depressing, pathetic, please forget it/Mad cause my style you admiring/Don’t be mad UPS is hiring,” or “Birthdays was the worst days/Now we sip champagne when we thirsty.” Then there was smooth Biggie on Big Poppa where he rapped “Now check it, I got more Mack than Craig and in the bed/Believe me sweety I got enough to feed the needy/No need to greedy I got mad friends with Benz’s.”

Who can also forget the vivid picture Biggie painted in the opening for the track “Warning,” he raps, “Who the f**k is this?/Paging me at 5:46 in the morning crack a dawnin/ Now I’m yawnin, wipe the cold from my eye/ See who’s this paging me and why.”

He was only 24 years old when he died but his music is timeless. In honor of the self-professed black Frank White here is the video to his first commercial single “Juicy.”